Soundcraft Magnetics was founded in 1977 by Alex Nicholas of
Brenell and John Eustace of Richardson Electronics, with the aim of
developing from a clean sheet, truly professional multi-track
studio tape-recorders. Alex's expertise lay in the transport deck
while John's was in the advanced electronics - after all he had
developed for Brenell the Mini-8 channel pre-amps.

The new business was formed as a subsidiary of Soundcraft
Electronics, a major competitor to Allen & Heath's mixers, for
they too saw the potential in a mixer and tape-deck package
portfolio.

SCM 380 series

Their first deck was a 'portable' 3-motor, suspended 3-head, 1"
8-track: the SCM '381', launched in late 1979. This spawned a
series of 1" and 2" versions in 8-, 16- and 24-track formats each
comprising a deck, control unit, 8-channel amplifier unit and
optional power unit within a simple, modular space frame block,
allowing an easy upgrade to 16- or 24-track formats at a later
date. The new deck proved an instant success and helped bring about
the demise of the now out-classed A&H-B Mini-8. However the 380
series was at its limit on 2" tape, so an improved model was called
for. Never-the-less, the reliable SCM 380 series remained in
production until 1987.

SCM 760 series

Developed from the 380 series specially for the more demanding 2"
tapes, the 760 series arrived in 1980. It retained the modular
construction and was offered primarily for 16- or 24-track
operation. There was even a short lived 32-track version in 1987.
Seen here in its final form as the 24-track Mk.III, with its
advanced remote control unit, the 760 series proved a serious
competitor to the market leaders, Otari, Ampex, Sony-MCI and
Studer, and proved to be a best seller for Soundcraft Magnetics,
selling in its hundreds to singer song-writers, producers and
studios, world wide.

S20 'stereo deck'

Of greatest interest was the development of a new NMT (New
Multi-track) full synch deck of highly advanced, world beating
design (it was eventually launched as the 'Saturn'). The NMT
encompassed, and honed, cutting-edge computer controlled transport
and analogue audio recording technologies but, in their wisdom,
their parent Soundcraft Electronics wanted to add a 1/4" Stereo
mastering deck to their portfolio which was not in keeping with
Magnetic's philosophy! Overruled, the Stereo deck (later known as
the S20), went ahead and usefully served as the working prototype
for their truly advanced NMT.

The S20 was designed for 1/4" or 1/2" tapes and up to 14" spools.
The track format was easily changed by simply swapping head blocks:
the computer software automatically sensing the format, and
selecting the pre-set criteria. It was a stunning machine, and
received rave reviews at its announcement in 1985, but it was
riddled with technical glitches. A small batch was produced in
1985, followed by a much improved Mk.II scheduled for production in
1987 but in the end, it was considered too expensive for its
intended market and the project was unceremoniously ended in spring
1987 just as it was about to enter production. Apart from a handful
of decks under review with favoured studio-customers, the
production decks, WIP and components were scrapped!

Saturn

The NMT was an astonishingly advanced design and was finally
launched as the 'Saturn' in 1986 with great praise and high hopes,
just ahead of the new Studer A820. It caught their competitors on
the hop being the first British deck to challenge Otari's dominance
of the studio market.

Unfortunately, the Saturn's (and S20's) development coincided with
a serious financial crisis at their parent company, Soundcraft
Electronics. It was also launched at a time when analogue tape was
being gradually ousted by digital recording - and Soundcraft could
neither afford to develop nor license the, then quite inferior,
digital technology. Consequently the Saturn failed to achieve its
true potential and then in March 1988, Soundcraft Magnetics was
declared 'technically insolvent', and promptly closed. The parent
Soundcraft Electronics, was duly sold to the Harman International
group.

Saturn Research

As Soundcraft Magnetics was being wound down, certain assets and
rights to the 'Saturn' were bought by a management team who formed
Saturn Research. The surviving work-in-progress SCM 760s and
Saturns were assembled by the new company as they concentrated on
the 'Saturn 824' (24 track) and a budget '624'. While the company
now lacked much of the extensive technical knowledge and R&D
facilities of Soundcraft Magnetics engineers, with much of their
precision engineering work now being out-sourced, they survived in
the face of digital technology until 1992. Their decks were used at
the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

The 'Saturn' would be the last British studio tape deck, bringing
to a sad end 50 years of Brenell heritage.

"It is a truly remarkable piece of research... I would
recommend this to any reel-to-reel enthusiast or 'child' of the
60s" - R (Mk.5 owner)

"A fascinating insight into the social history and development of
British tape recorders - without being too technical about it.
Anyone involved in the industry will be delighted with this
book." Alex Nicholas, MD Brenell Engineering

"Brilliant! The detail uncovered is awesome. I learnt more about
Brenell from a few pages than I did when I worked there." Martin
Appleby, AH&B Industrial Designer